In Olympic sports, the difference between success or failure is measured in moments. Who crosses the line first, who catches the ball better, who jumps higher, or farther or faster, can define a career. So it’s no surprise that elite athletes long have been obsessed with optimizing their performance. Training, nutrition, recovery, and equipment all have become finely tuned systems, each designed to squeeze out the smallest possible edge.
In bobsled, that obsession especially is visible. The sport’s meticulously engineered sleds often get much of the credit alongside the athletes who push them. Aerodynamics, runner polish, and sled geometry endlessly are analyzed. But in bobsled, a race often is decided in the first few seconds, when athletes explode off the ice and push with everything they have.
Those opening steps are where a quieter form of innovation has been taking shape, found not in the sled, but inside the shoe.
VKTRY Gear recently renewed its partnership with USA Bobsled & Skeleton as the team builds toward the 2026 Winter Olympics. With custom carbon fiber insoles, this tech provides one more mode of optimization aimed at helping athletes perfect their output. The collaboration traces its roots back more than a decade, to a moment when bobsled offered VKRTY Gear founder, Matt Arciuolo, both an unlikely proving ground and a technical challenge.
Read more about VKTRY, Team USA, and the Olympics!
